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And so the building continued to sit vacant. "We're going to do whatever we can to help this happen, because I'm sick of looking at that building."īy that point, officials already concluded that any successful redevelopment plan would likely have to replace the concrete facade.ĬW Montgomery later said its plans were waylaid by the 2007 financial collapse. "It's an eyesore, period," said Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings at the time. While there were no successful bidders, Guttman did eventually manage to find a buyer, CW Montgomery, which bought the building for $1.4 million in 2007.ĬW Montgomery, whose principals included Jacob Frydman, who later bought the Kenwood Convent, only to be foreclosed on in 2019, proposed turning it into a residential complex, with city support. In June 2004, however, he listed it on eBay for $3.6 million.
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He proposed retail space on the lower floors and a parking garage on the windowless upper floors. It was flipped the following year to New York City developer Joshua Guttman for $800,000. "It's a sad state of affairs when you can purchase a 500,000-square-foot building for $1,'' said Crisafulli, according to Times Union archives.Ĭrisafulli kept his promise and later sold the structure in 2001 for $500,000 to a development group that wanted to use the building for warehouse space. Frank Crisafulli, a retired owner of a food distribution company, later scooped it up for $1 and the promise to clear $120,000 in back taxes. Then-state Attorney General Dennis Vacco stepped in to prevent Trustco Bank from shutting off power to the building, for fear that thousands of pounds of ammonia would burst through valves. The Police Athletic League used to store Christmas toy donations inside.īy 1996 the building was in foreclosure. In the 1960s it was a food distribution site for city residents on welfare while doubling as a fallout shelter during the Cold War. 4, 2019)īut as the food storage business changed and there was less need for grocers and others to store their goods off-site, the warehouse strayed from its original purpose.
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